Chapter 77 I—will—compose—this—chapter! ^^……

"What did you go through?" Tou Lan asked, frowning.

Touhuang rubbed his temples: "We've been running around all day."

"Run?" Tou Lan was even more puzzled.

Before they could press further, Touhuang sighed and said, "We didn't sleep a wink all night; we just closed our eyes and it was already dawn..."

After saying goodnight, Touhuang pulled Touhui aside to discuss upgrading the tent.

The purple and green tones plan to discuss how they can leverage their strengths in the upcoming actions.

Their discussion didn't last long; they went to sleep after about two hours.

"What happened?" Tou Zi was the first to wake up; he was always a light sleeper.

"Green, get up quickly!" he hurriedly called to Green.

Tou Lü yawned, her eyes still closed.

“Look outside,” Tou Zi said, pointing to the window.

Tou Lu, fighting off her sleepiness, forced open her eyes and looked out the window.

"Wha...what happened..." Tou Lü was so startled that his drowsiness almost vanished. He turned his head sharply to look at Tou Zi. "Have I been sleeping for so long?"

"No." Tou Zi shook her head.

"Then... how come it's already dawn?" Tou Lü was even more confused. He looked at Tou Zi, "What did you discover?"

After thinking for a moment, Tou Zi stood up and walked to the control panel, quickly performing the operation.

Tou Lü instantly understood and quickly stepped forward to shout into one of the microphone-like devices, "Warehouse Number Three calling."

"Warehouse Number One is here, what's wrong?" a gray voice rang out.

Tou Zi briefly explained the situation, and the two sides immediately merged their tents.

"Still no reply from the boss and Prince Lanxing?" Touhuang asked anxiously, frowning.

“Yes.” Tou Zi nodded solemnly.

"Let's go out and take a look," Touhui said, looking out the window at the bright, daylight-like scenery.

"Okay." After trying a few more times without getting a reply, Tou Zi had no choice but to nod in agreement.

The four carefully opened the door and were greeted by a familiar forest, but everything was white—the leaves, the flowers, and the tree trunks were all a chilling pale white.

"...Are we still going out?" Tou Lü pursed her lips, looking a little nervous.

"Let's go!" Tou Zi said without hesitation.

Hearing him say that, the others didn't say anything.

They had always been led by Tou Lan, but when Tou Lan was not around, they would be arranged by Tou Zi.

Tou Zi can be considered the second-in-command of the Tou Lan team, which is one of the reasons for Tou Hui's betrayal. He was surpassed by Tou Zi when he first arrived.

Tou Zi was a boy with a rather cold and aloof appearance. His usually calm and composed face was now showing signs of nervousness, and his thin lips were tightly pursed.

"It's alright, this is a decision we all made." The ever-thoughtful Touhuang patted his shoulder and said softly.

"Let's go." Touhui glanced back at them, a knowing look flashing in his eyes.

The outside world was more terrifying than they had imagined.

When you get close to those pale tree trunks and branches, you can see that white or deathly gray-white color, as if you can smell the scent of death even more.

"What's going on?" Tou Lu nervously tugged at Tou Zi's sleeve, her voice trembling slightly.

"Warehouses number two and four are no longer visible." Touhuang and Sang Zhitao, like the others, could not see the tents, but could touch them.

Unfortunately, just like Sang Zhitao, the group searched for a long time but couldn't find the door.

"What do we do now?" Tou Lü subconsciously looked at Tou Zi.

"I..." Tou Zi had just opened his mouth when he felt his hair stand on end. An indescribable aura swept over him, making him want to run away.

"Run!" The oldest, Translucent Yellow, grabbed him and Translucent Green and shouted at Translucent Gray.

Translucent Gray reacted quickly, taking Translucent Green from his hand before he could react, and ran away at top speed.

"What are we hiding from?!" The green-tinged question was quickly forgotten.

"Didn't you feel it? That aura!!" Touhui shouted at him, panting heavily.

"I didn't feel anything!" Tou Lü shouted.

"You—are—really—crazy!" Touhui was so tired he could barely speak.

"You two, shut up!!!" Touhuang couldn't help but yell at them.

"No, I can't go on. I'd rather die from the unknown than from a lung explosion..." Touhui stopped, panting heavily, his hand on his knee, but his right hand was tightly gripping Toulv.

"Are you alright, Touhui?" Toulv looked at Touhui with concern.

Only then did Tou Hui realize that he hadn't let go of Tou Lü. He felt the aura getting closer and closer, so he pushed Tou Lü and said, "Don't worry about me, you run first."

Its green face showed hesitation, unwilling to abandon its companion.

"Go!" Tou Hui glared at him and said sharply.

Translucent Green is still hesitating.

"What happened?!" Touhuang returned with Touzi.

Seeing that Touhui was still catching his breath, Touhuang understood his thoughts and looked at Touhui with some sadness in his eyes.

"Let's go!" Translucent Yellow grabbed Translucent Green's hand, nodded to Translucent Gray, and pulled the person forward quickly.

As his companions left and the terrifying aura drew ever closer, Touhui couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.

He slumped to the ground, leaning against a tree trunk, pulled a tattered cigarette case from his waist, took out the only two cigarettes inside, and lit one with trembling hands.

"Boss, I'm sorry, please forgive me this time..." He took a deep drag of his cigarette, squinted his eyes, and savored the aroma of the tobacco.

Touhui could sense the terrifying aura approaching; it was very close, almost right in front of him.

He took another deep drag of his cigarette, closed his eyes, and awaited the unknown death.

Suddenly a gust of wind swept past his shoulder, lifting his long, gray-white hair, which then gently fell back down.

Touhui sensed the terrifying aura receding and suddenly opened his eyes to find complete silence around him.

"Damn it! 凸(艹皿艹)" Tou Hui cursed in exasperation, and then the sound of running footsteps could be heard.

He quickly took a deep drag on his cigarette and then stubbed it out.

Looking with a pang of heartache at the cigarette butt that was still a third of its original size, and hearing the footsteps getting closer, he closed his eyes and crushed the cigarette butt into the white soil.

The three people who arrived were none other than Touhuang and his companion. They ran very fast and left before Touhui could even say hello.

"I think I see—transparent gray!" Transparent Green shouted.

"I think I saw it too!" Tou Zi shouted.

"I—saw—it!" Touhuang shouted.

"Why—why—we—don't—stop—it!!" Green continued to shout.

"I—can't—stop—anymore!!!" Touhuang shouted.

The conversation between the three reached Touhui's ears, who was about to raise his hand to stop them.

Touhui twitched the corner of his mouth and rolled his eyes at his companion's back.

Fortunately, the group of people with yellow hair were reliable and quickly returned.

"What's going on?" Touhuang asked, panting heavily, looking at Touhui with a puzzled expression.

Touhui quickly recounted his recent experience.

"Wait!" Translucent Yellow squinted at Translucent Gray.

Touhui felt a little guilty and subconsciously took a step back.

The yellow cat strode forward and sniffed the air from within half a meter of the ground.

"You... you've been smoking?" The yellowish voice was icy.

Tou Hui swallowed hard and waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no."

A cold smile tugged at the corner of his yellow lips as he stared intently at the gray one.

"That aura is back again. Why don't you run? What if it doesn't work anymore?" Tou Hui cautiously suggested.

The woman in the yellow robes stared at him coldly: "Why don't you run away with me? Aren't you afraid of dying?"

Touhui said embarrassedly, "Well... I'm an office worker, so I'm not good at escaping."

"Then we'll stay with you," Touhuang sneered. "Suddenly, I'm not afraid of death anymore."

Tou Hui swallowed hard, took a few steps back to create a safe distance, and then clasped his hands together in apology: "I was just thinking that I was about to die, so... I wanted to cheer myself up."

"..." Touhuang stared at him speechlessly for a long while until his breath brushed past them and ruffled their hair before he said, "Hand it over."

Translucent Gray looked pitiful: "It's really gone, my only treasure."

Transparent yellow didn't reply; her outstretched hand trembled.

With a helpless sigh, Touhui reached for the cigarette case at his waist, his movements as slow as a slow-motion movie slowed down thirty-two times.

"Tsk, hurry up." The man with the yellowed face trembled impatiently.

With a look of reluctance in his eyes, Touhui finally handed the cigarette box to Touhuang after Touhui urged him repeatedly.

Translucent opened the box and saw that there was only one stick left inside. Satisfied, she put the box into her pocket: "I forgive you this time."

Translucent Gray touched the tip of his nose, and then saw Translucent Purple and Translucent Green standing to the side with expressions of amusement.

"Hey, you two brats, you didn't even think to put in a good word for me." He raised his hand, making a gesture as if he was about to knock them down.

"It's not our fault, Touhui, you swore you'd quit smoking." Toulu shrugged, looking helpless.

Tou Zi obediently nodded in agreement.

For a moment, Touhui was speechless. He could only roll his eyes and ignore them.

He initially became addicted to cigarettes with a calming effect due to the pollution disease. However, the cigarettes in the Gem Kingdom are different from those on Earth. These calming cigarettes are highly addictive and can even accelerate the onset of the pollution disease.

Such things, which only had a comforting and numbing effect, were once something that only the upper class could use.

But there are so many and so common contamination diseases that such products have started to be updated and iterated, with prices constantly decreasing, until they became something that even people in the garbage city could afford.

"If one can enjoy peace more, then embracing death early is not necessarily a bad thing." — A gem man.

This was once a popular saying in the Gem Kingdom: the later stages of the pollution disease are so painful that people would rather drink poison than give up, even if they know it is poison in front of them.

Unlike many people who have no other choice, Touhui was maliciously fed tobacco when he was a child, until he could no longer leave.

Later, when Touhui wandered to the garbage city, he was picked up by Toulan. Despite being the oldest member of the team, he willingly acknowledged Toulan as his leader. He later changed his name to Touhui, vowed to quit smoking, and now he has a group of lovely family members.

Touhuang knew about Touhui's past. He was the first person to follow Toulan and the first to change his name. He had seen the darkness in Touhui's past and did not want this person, who had been pulled out of the black mud with great difficulty, to go back in. So he could only force and control him.

Touhui didn't mind the control and surveillance. Touhuang knew that the other party sometimes even enjoyed it and would occasionally break the rules to get a scolding from him.

"You really are..." Translucent Yellow couldn't help but mutter Translucent Gray, that aura was back again.

But this time something seems different...